Elizabeth Fernando
Elizabeth Fernando was promoted to CIO of the U.K.’s National Employment Savings Trust pension fund, taking over from longtime CIO Mark Fawcett, the fund announced Monday.
Fernando joined Nest in 2020, was named deputy CIO in 2021 and has 25 years of investment experience. She was named a CIO NextGen leader in 2022.
Nest reported having £26.8 billion ($33.22 billion) in assets in December 2022.
Before joining Nest, Fernando was head of equities at the U.K.’s Universities Superannuation Scheme.
“I’m honored to be following in the footsteps of Mark and excited to continue working with him, as we both look to the future of Nest’s investment strategy,” Fernando said in a Nest press release.
Fawcett, who joined Nest as CIO in 2008, will continue his role as the CEO of Nest Invest, the pension scheme’s Financial Conduct Authority-authorized subsidiary, the pension fund announced. He will also remain on Nest Corp.’s executive committee, as managing director of its investment function.
Fawcett will be responsible for the overall management of Nest’s investment operation, while Fernando will now lead on the day-to-day implementation of Nest’s investment strategy, according to a statement from Nest.
As part of his nomination of Fernando as a NextGen leader in 2022, Fawcett said, “Elizabeth has had a fantastic impact since arriving at Nest. …. Her key achievements to date have been to evolve the asset allocation process (which is already adding significant value) and work on developing our investment objectives—by taking advantage of our scale and the investment opportunities that opens up.”
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Tags: Elizabeth Fernando, Mark Fawcett, National Employment Savings Trust, NEST, Nest Invest